Ibrahim Kamal sent home to New Zealand following Barwon Prison stabbing
Immigration officials have finally succeeded in kicking out a violent offender following a vicious jailhouse stabbing at Barwon Prison after tension between the man and other inmates boiled over.
Inner East
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A 34-year-old violent criminal will be shipped home to New Zealand after his visa to reside in Australia was cancelled for a third and final time.
Ibrahim Kamal, formerly of Prahran, stabbed a fellow inmate in the eye using a metal spike while serving time at Barwon Prison after tension between him and other prisoners boiled over, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal heard.
The gruesome May 2012 attack was the latest conviction Kamal faced in a long history of offending and resulted in an Immigration Minister delegate cancelling Kamal’s visa in 2016, a decision that was upheld by the tribunal last month on appeal.
Senior tribunal members Donald Morris and Perry Wood noted Kamal had priors for other violent assaults as well as drug trafficking.
And they rejected Kamal’s assertions that he lashed out at the other prisoner in self-defence, as did Kamal’s trial judge when he sentenced Kamal to five years’ jail with a minimum of three for the attack.
Kamal, who was born in Ethiopia but moved to New Zealand with family where he became a naturalised citizen before immigrating to Australia in 2000, previously succeeded in having past decisions to kick him out of the country revoked.
But the senior members said he “regrettably” went on to reoffend, and when questioned by the tribunal last month they said he’d conceded he’d failed to deliver on past promises to reform.
“He said he was grateful for that decision and agreed he told the at that time that he would reform and stop reoffending, but conceded he had gone on to reoffend, even though he had undertaken programs to assist in rehabilitation,” the tribunal members said.
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They also noted his “traumatic” upbringing in Ethiopia, which included his mother’s death when he was an infant and his father’s disappearance before he immigrated to New Zealand with an aunt, had bought him “one last chance” in the past to remain in Australia.
But they said he’d since squandered his chances to stay in the country.
“He failed to heed that clear warning (to not reoffend),” they said.
“(He) perhaps not steadily, but certainly somewhat relentlessly, continued to reoffend.”